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AIBU?

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Original poster

To be really pissed off at this restaurant??

233 replies

K1092902 · 03/08/2017 20:28

Booked a meal this afternoon in London for for 9 at 1pm. A restaurant a few people recommended to us and that friends we are staying with have been to and said was very good. We expected the price to be pretty high a) it's central London b) it has a good reputation

There was an office party of some sort in there- about 10 of them.

Anyway we had our meal and the bill came. There were 8 adults (My friends and their 2 adult children, DSDs, Me and DH) and 3 year old DD.

I looked at the bill at thought it was quite high. I offered to pay as we are staying with our friends and they took me and DH for dinner in Tuesday night but friends insisted on paying half and after tooing and froing we OKd it

Friend noticed we had been given the wrong bill after again noticing the price seemed a little high.

We were given the bill for the other group. Waitress and manager told us that we couldn't pay our own bill as it was already paid for and all they could do was give us a print out of a receipt.

DH said we wouldn't be paying and the manager threatened to call the police so I paid to keep the peace and because DD was getting upset. They have given us a gift voucher for the difference but I'm still pretty pissed off

OP posts:
Serialweightwatcher · 03/08/2017 21:13

No way you should have paid or put up with that nonsense - I'd have let them call the police - you didn't owe that money and the vouchers just mean you need to use them at their place again I'm assuming ... wonder if they've tried this on before?? Contact whoever owns the place and make sure you're given cash and an apology - extra cash would be nice for the cheek, inconvenience and humiliation of being threatened by the police Hmm

IHateUncleJamie · 03/08/2017 21:19

Apparently they didn't book under an organization so they couldn't even contact someone from there to try and sort it out

When the restaurant took the booking for 10 people (for a work lunch or not), they would have taken a phone number to go with the booking in case of a no-show. In any case, that wasn't your problem.

You should NEVER have paid a larger bill than you owed. If your little dd was getting upset, why didn't you take her outside while your DH stood his ground with the restaurant? Absolute madness.

Buglife · 03/08/2017 21:21

This can't be real. There isn't just one single copy of the bill and the restaurant can't print another one/have a copy of it even if it's just a written one. A large pricey restaurant in central London would most likely have a computerised one and just reprint it. I've checked bills and had a reprint before (I was being v honest about a missed drink!) and also had a reprint when I've forgotten to give a voucher code etc. Surely nowhere would say 'well we charged them less by our mistake so you have to pay the difference for us'. You seem to be saying that the other group took away the only possible copy of your tables bill and so you had to pay theirs, is that correct?

TestTubeTeen · 03/08/2017 21:21

Was your DH refusing to pay any of the bill, or just refusing to pay the difference?

They can't make you pay a higher price just because they messed up!

Write to the Consumer's Rights column in tne Guardian.

coddiwomple · 03/08/2017 21:21

In case this is a genuine story, OP you do not have to overpay anything ever because someone else has underpaid. You can ask for YOUR bill, pay what YOU own and the rest has nothing to do with you.

gillybeanz · 03/08/2017 21:23

I'd have let them call Police.
Get on social media and shame them and then get in touch with trading standards.
Unfortunately you agreed to pay, only by saying you weren't satisfied with the outcome would you have got a refund or not charged for the other table.

TestTubeTeen · 03/08/2017 21:25

Nelly, do keep up!

In tne thread about her sister (who has sacked DSD as bridesmaid as she doesn't 'condone ' teen pregnancy, big family hoo ha) she says they are all back home and while a bit frosty, improving.

GloriousGoosebumps · 03/08/2017 21:26

You must be the meekest person ever. Did you really think that the police were going to come along and order you to pay someone elses restaurant bill? And now you're presumably planning to return so that you can use the gift voucher they gave you ? So they don't just shaft you once, they shaft you twice? Perhaps you should consider some assertiveness training?

Laine21 · 03/08/2017 21:27

Trip advisor and their Facebook page, local trading standards to complain. They bullied and threatened you for something they did wrong!

LindyHemming · 03/08/2017 21:27

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

VeryCunningStunt · 03/08/2017 21:28

Nelly, do keep up!

In tne thread about her sister (who has sacked DSD as bridesmaid as she doesn't 'condone ' teen pregnancy, big family hoo ha) she says they are all back home and while a bit frosty, improving.

Oh dear, I must have missed that thread. Blush

Poor OP, can't even catch a break with a nice lunch with friends Sad

MadamePomfrey · 03/08/2017 21:30

That's ridiculous surely they charge you what you owe and either take the hit themselves if they really can't get hold of the party of 10 a voucher is ridiculous I can't believe you agreed I hate situations like that but no way am I paying a cheeky fuckers bill!!

TwoBusyCnuts · 03/08/2017 21:31

Twitter & Facebook & Daily Mail that shit.
They are twats. Don't let this pass.

MadMags · 03/08/2017 21:33

Ah, this OP.

You poor thing. Yet another drama to add to the pile...

ChasedByBees · 03/08/2017 21:33

Why would you pay a higher bill and accept a voucher? It's not like you'd want to go back. Confused

You should have paid exactly what oh owed and no more. You didnt even have to do that, your account was settled.

Maelstrop · 03/08/2017 21:34

Finding this hard to believe, because you'd have to be really stupid to pay someone else's bill. It's a restaurant, you pay for what you consume and if they fucked up giving you the wrong bill, you should have checked it before paying and demanded the correct bill.

coddiwomple · 03/08/2017 21:34

No one's that British!

Grin Grin

Cailleach666 · 03/08/2017 21:35

THis is so funny.

Why did you pay someone else's bill?

AlpacaLipsNow · 03/08/2017 21:38

I heard on Jeremy Vine the other day that waiting staff often have to pay for tables who do a runner out of their wages. Perhaps the waiters were worried they'd fucked up so pushed it on to you. You're a bit of a mug to have paid it though.

londonrach · 03/08/2017 21:39

Sorry, did i read that right they gave you a bill for another table then refused to give you your own bill!!!!!! Voucher!?!? Im sorry but thats awful. Report them!

Theresnonamesleft · 03/08/2017 21:39

Oi op come back. There's some bills you've need to pay. I've used wifi to read your thread so it's only right you pay my bill.

londonrach · 03/08/2017 21:40

Trading standards, council and fb and trip advisor plus contact whos in charge!

NataliaOsipova · 03/08/2017 21:40

Good God! I fourth/fifth the cries to name the restaurant. Seriously. Name them here....

llangennith · 03/08/2017 21:40

Why on earth did you pay?!

notallthosewhowander · 03/08/2017 21:41

Having worked in a restaurant, I have to agree that it would be impossible to double pay for a table, but they still handled it wrong.

Say that your table is Table 10 on their till system, everything you order gets put through as Table 10.

The other party is Table 13, and everything they order gets put through on Table 13.

If Table 13 pay the bill of Table 10, Table 10 gets 'removed' from the system as it's been paid, so it wouldn't have been possible for you to also pay the bill of Table 10 (even though it's your actual bill) as it would no longer show up as an amount to pay and the system couldn't handle it.

What they SHOULD have done is ask you to pay the amount of your Table 10 bill onto the Table 13 check. Say this leaves a £40 amount still on Table 13, this would still show as an active check on the till until the manager either voided it or got hold of the other party to come and pay the difference.